Shadow The Hedgehog: Rupture
by Grant Crose
Summary: Shadow The Hedgehog is spying on the military force, G.U.N., in an attempt to reveal their dangerous plans, but then all of a sudden, everything turns into ashes, and he will not rest until he finds out what's happening.
1. Chapter 1: Lost Memories

In a huge hallway, full of weapons aiming at him, Shadow was looking at the exit which was ten meters ahead, he hesitated a little bit, but when he heard the guards coming, he had no other choice but to run and try to dodge the upcoming shots, so he ran the fastest he could while jumping on the walls and still looking at the exit. He managed to get out without any wounds, he was already out of the building. "Damn, where is she?" Shadow was supposed to meet with Rouge after the mission.

"Aw, You can't be a second without me? That's…" Rogue appeared flying with a gem on her hands, then she landed on the ground, but she couldn't finish her phrase.

"Dont even start, Rouge, we barely made it, so I hope you to be happy with your little prize." Shadow looked at her with anger.

Rogue didn't want to argue. "Whatever honey, did you get the files?"

Shadow opened his hand to reveal a pen-drive. "Yes, this contains everything we need to know about G.U.N.s plans."

"It's weird to think we were working for them two years ago." Rogue cleaned some dirt from her arm.

"Now they are the enemy." Shadow walked away from Rogue.

"Uhm…Goodbye? Take care?" Rogue said while watching Shadow going away, but she was ignored. "Whatever, tough guy."

On his way, Shadow was too exhausted to run, and also, he secretly enjoyed to walk on the streets while watching the skyscrapers, the street lightning, trying to ignore the bums who were laying on the alleys, the suffocating smell of piss and alcohol, avoiding the trash that covered the sidewalk, he got into an alley, then he opened a door that led to a dirty stairway, he entered to the room he was renting and left the pen-drive over an old desk, he put off his shoes and layed on his old bed, then he took a frame that was hanging near of the window, it had a picture of him and Maria sitting on the grass, he looked at that picture every night before sleeping, when he returned the frame to its place, he looked at one corner of the ceiling, it had a cobweb, he kept looking at that until he fell asleep.

Later that night, he woke up by hearing a weird noise, then he saw a blinking light near of the door, he realized what that meant and he ran fast to the table to get the pen-drive and then he jumped out of the window smashing the glass and a great explosion occurred behind him when he was still in the air, then he landed heavily on the street. He stood up with all his body aching and started to feel an intense fear, suddenly he realized that all of the things that reminded him about Maria were lost forever. "No… N…No it can't be…Ma…" The anger and the sadness put him on his knees as he clenched his fists, he screamed several times while punching the street's concrete, which made his knuckles to bleed.

After a few minutes, Shadow stood up again and looked around to try to find the attacker, he also searched on the alleys, he got more desperate and started to yell while still gazing at every corner of the street. "Where are you bastard! Come on! I will paint the street with your blood!" As Shadow expected, no one appeared, then he went to the rubble, ignoring the corpses of his neighbors, trying to retrieve only one thing, unfortunately, it was all turned into ashes. "They will pay." He moved some rocks and found his shoes, it looked like a miracle for him to find them practically intact, so he cleaned the dust that was covering his shoes, then he held them upside down to let all of the dirt and rocks to come off, then he put them on.

Shadow took a cellphone from the hand of a corpse, then he made a call, he waited two minutes before getting an answer.

"Chaotix Detective Agency, in what can we…Oh wait, that number… Mike? What's up bud it's been a while!…"

"I'm sorry Vector, it's me, Shadow, I need your help, It's important."

Vector sounded very confused from the phone's speaker. "Wait what?! Shadow the…? But this is Mike's…What did you do to him is he…"

Shadow sighed and tried to calm down Vector. "No! I just took a phone from a dead body, that's all! And this is why I need your help!"

Vector freaked out after Shadow's failed intent to clarify the matter. "He, he is dead?!, Oh my..." A sigh came from the speaker. "What did you? Okay, alright, just go to my office tomorrow in the morning and we will discuss it calmly, because I bet you have a lot to explain."


	2. Chapter 2: Detective Work

Shadow arrived at the outside of Vectors' office early in the morning, the chaotix logo in the front door was very deteriorated, he knocked the door and some dust fell on his head, he took it off with his hand.

"Come in." Said Vector with a sleepy voice.

Shadow opened the door and found Vector resting over the desktop with an empty bottle of liquor at his side, but he could get up to greet him.

"Good morning murderer, let's get to…work, what does the ultimate life form needs from me? A humble, but great detective?" Vector took out a little notebook from a drawer.

"Who are you calling murderer! I said I…" Shadow started to get mad.

"Calm down, calm down I'm just kidding, you don't like jokes? Fine no more jokes so…" Vector yawned while pressing his pen's button. "What happened."

"You look awful." Shadow crossed his arms.

"Thanks, appreciate it." Vector said sarcastically. "Well if your comrades aren't here to stop you then the party begins!" Vector went to his desktop for a moment and put his hands over it.

"Espio and Charmy? They aren't with you anymore?" Shadow realized that they were not there.

"With us, my friend, they aren't with us anymore, and it was all my fault." Vector looked back at Shadow.

"I'm sorry." Shadow tried to show some compassion.

"Thanks, the past is the past, your problem is what matters right now so tell me." Vector took his notebook again.

"Yesterday I escaped from G.U.N., I needed something from them and I made it, then I went to my apartment and in the middle of the night a bomb appeared on my door, so I jumped out the window and then I called you."

Vector was writing it down. "Okay, now tell me, who do you think it could be?"

Shadow tried to think. "I don't know maybe G.U.N. but they don't work that way."

Vector nodded and wrote more stuff on his notebook. "Alright, do you have, enemies?"

"Apart from G.U.N.? No that's, that was a long time ago, I can´t think off another one."

"Well it seems we must go to your neighborhood and do some research on all the area, so we can find clues." Vector put away his notebook. "But really, tell me, why are you looking for my help? I thought you were something like a spy or a lonely wolf, you know this kind of 'all by myself' person."

"Because you have more experience than me on this things, you know more about investigation and crime scenes than me."

Vector corrected Shadow. "That's called 'criminology'."

Shadow sighed and kept talking. "Now you understand me?"

Vector nodded. "It's possible that the police is already there doing their own stuff, we must be careful while doing our research."

Shadow was doubtful. "Wait, haven't you got something like a permission to do that? You are a detective after all."

Vector sighed and put on his coat. "It's a…long and complicated story that you don't want to hear and I don't want to tell so let's get back into business, shall we?"

Shadow followed him to the door. "Okay, I guess."

They arrived to a building nearby Shadow's destroyed apartment, the police was already there, but Vector had a plan to search for clues. "Here's the plan, I will search on the roof and you will search down here, you said the bomb was sticked to your door, so these are the only possible locations that could give us something to work with, the sniper probably shot the bomb from this location, but search carefully."

Shadow nodded and began to search on the alley, and vector went upstairs to look on the roof.

Vector took out his magnifying glass to inspect each corner of the roof, he wanted to cover every single angle, and when he came to the side that was facing the rubble, he finally found something. "Bingo." he whispered to himself and took a small bag to put away the possible clue, then he came down from the roof.

Shadow was sitting over a trash can, angry because he didn´t find anything.

Vector saw him and showed him the bag. "Guess who found a clue Mr. Ultimate Life-form?"

Shadow got mad at him. "Don't you ever dare to call me like that again!"

Vector took a step back. "Chill I'm kidding!, even you used to like that name!"

Shadow got down from the trash can. "You've said it, I used to, now that's lost in the past, anyway, what have you got."

Vector opened the bag and took out a small piece of paper. "It's a ticket, to a club."

Shadow got upset. "What? Vector we have no time to drink we need real clues like…"

"This is a clue! I'm not talking about drinking or something like that, I found this on the side that was looking directly to where your apartment was."

Shadow was still unimpressed. "Yes, and?"

Vector sighed and put the ticket closer to Shadow's face. "The shooter Shadow! Maybe this is from him, or her, the case is, this person likes to have fun and obviously has the money to do it, it wouldn't be a bad idea to go to the club and take a look."

Shadow nodded. "Fine, but no drinks."

Vector laughed but then tried to sound serious. "Are you my boss? Alright, but I must tell you that's not a promise."


	3. Chapter 3: Questionable Methods

There was a fox walking towards the club, with his ticket on his hand, then suddenly he was punched in the face and fell to the ground, he could only hear a few words before falling asleep. "Sorry bud, is for a good cause."

"Was it really necessary to beat that poor guy?" Vector then stole a ticket carefully by taking it from the sweater of a cat that walked near of him.

"Was it necessary to rob that girl, detective?" Shadow raised an eyebrow and grinned.

"It's different, I can't use the ticket we found on the roof, it's evidence, let's go inside."

They showed the tickets to the security guards, whom only nodded and let them pass.

The music's volume was high, everybody was dancing carelessly while holding a drink, Shadow and Vector walked between the people to get a seat and search for the shooter.

Once they found a place, Vector tried to make up a plan. "Okay Shadow, we have two possibilities based on our hope that he or she decided to come here this very day, first, if we see something suspicious, we must not hesitate and take action, you know, be rude and make questions, second, the shooter will see you and try to finish the job, if he is not here, we will have to come back every night until we discover something." Vector stood up from his chair. "Which is not a bad thing at all, wait here and I'll get some drinks."

"I said no drinks!" Shadow argued.

"And I said it wasn't a promise." Vector ignored him and went with the bartender.

Shadow sighed and crossed his arms.

"One beer please." Vector said to the bartender, who gave him what he asked for, then he went back with Shadow.

When Vector sat down to drink his beer, Shadow already had found a suspect. "See that guy on that corner?."

Vector could barely see him. "Who? The one with the hoodie?"

Shadow nodded while still looking at the guy. "Yeah, I saw someone approached him and gave him an envelope."

"And?" Vector showed no interest and drank from his beer.

"He is alone, using his phone, he is not dancing or even drinking anything at all, do you see anyone else doing the same?"

Vector had already finish his beer. "Good point, but, let's be more patient, I'll go for the next one."

Shadow sighed with anger. "They weren't even two minutes! Are you serious? I won't help you if you get drunk and start a fight or something like that…"

"It's just my second one! I will need much more to get drunk, believe me, I know it for experience." Vector returned to the bar and asked for another beer.

Shadow kept looking at the guy with the hoodie, until he noticed that Shadow was watching him, so he put away his phone and tried to move fast between the people, Shadow noted this immediately and did the same to try to approach him, the guy went off his sight when he opened a door at the other side of the club.

When Shadow made it to the door he went downstairs to follow the guy, then he found him running through a small corridor and entering to a room, so he followed him there.

Shadow didn't hesitate and smashed him with a spin-dash. The suspect was now laying on the floor, still conscious, then Shadow lifted him up by the neck and smashed him against the wall. "Talk! Why did you try to kill me you idiot!" He punched him strongly, then he took off his cap. He was a young red coyote with one blind eye, who coughed before speaking.

"I am not the one you are looking for, I was doing my…" He was interrupted by another punch on his face.

"Your job?, tell me! Who hired you?" Shadow yelled.

"Do you think I'm afraid of you?, I almost killed you last night, but now I'll not fail." The coyote stabbed him near the stomach, and Shadow let him go for a moment while coughing repeatedly, but he didn't give up and kicked his leg, the coyote fell down and Shadow took a bottle of wine from a table and smashed it on the coyote's head.

"Now you will…" Shadow coughed. "….talk." Shadow took one of his hands and broke his thumb.

The coyote screamed with pain, as he felt that his thumb was cracked on several parts. "I…" He gasped. "…was trained to tolerate this…"

Shadow broke his index finger. "And I know how to make you talk."

The coyote screamed harder, and cried a little bit. "You…don't know who are you dealing with." The coyote screamed again when Shadow broke his middle finger. "Iron…!"

"What did you say? Sorry, I couldn't hear you well." Shadow broke his last two fingers.

The coyote cried out loud and cursed while screaming. "Iron Trap!"

"Who is he?" Shadow let go his hand.

"They…" The coyote said with a broken voice. "They are an organization that hires people like us, to kill for the influentials."

"Influentials?" Shadow was confused.

"Rich people who don't want to ruin their shiny reputations, Iron Trap, they work as intermediaries, to keep the jobs as a secret."

"And where are they? Where is Iron Trap?!" Shadow punched him again.

The coyote gasped while laying on the ground, and could barely talk. "I…do…I don't…know…they are…everywhere." He chuckled a little bit to make fun of Shadow. "What a bad day… for a bad life, of a failed creation like you, the ultimate…"

Shadow went out of control and began to kick his legs, then he stepped on them and started to jump repeatedly. "Liar! Liar! Liar!" The coyote's screams for mercy couldn't stop him and then Vector entered to the room.

"Shadow! Stop!" Vector pulled him away from the coyote.

A security guard saw them from the front door. "Stop right there!"

Vector and Shadow exited from the window and ran across various alleys until they managed to lose the guard, after recovering their breath, Vector scolded Shadow. "Have you lost your freaking mind?! What were you doing?!"

"It was him! He gave me good info." Shadow defended himself.

"And what did you do to obtain that information?" Vector asked.

Shadow sighed. "I broke his fingers."

"Torture, huh?" Vector sounded angry and disappointed.

"Come on, I wouldn't call it that way, besides, it was necessary! He is a murderer!" Shadow yelled at him.

"No Shadow! It wasn't necessary, like, at all! There are better ways, and it seems it wasn't even enough for you." Vector crossed his arms.

"Enough?"

"You were literally jumping on his legs! Maybe he will no longer be able to walk again."

Shadow made a gesture of disinterest. "Maybe he deserved it, he tried to kill me."

Vector growled. "But why…" He sighed. "We will talk about this later, what have you got?"

"Iron Trap, he works for that organization, the only problem is that, he told me they were everywhere, I don't know what that is supposed to mean, but it's something." Shadow just looked to the Skyscrapers.

Vector took his notebook. "Well, if what he says is true, we must find this guys, and discover what this is all about."


	4. Chapter 4: Brief Persecution

While Vector was looking for a contact on his phone, Shadow heard vehicles approaching. "Run".

"What?" Vector said.

"G.U.N., they found us, I think I know what to do but you must hide, I'll meet you at the downtown." Shadow said before running.

"Wait! Shadow!" Vector looked back and saw the lights of big, armored trucks coming after him, so he ran into an alley to hide from them.

Shadow was running the fastest he could, five helicopters were also chasing him, soldiers were shooting at him from the trucks' turrets, he managed to get to the highway, the lights from the city were already far away.

When he thought he had lost them, a huge truck full of soldiers pointing at him appeared from nowhere, he cursed by knowing he was trapped until he got an idea.

Shadow jumped from a lamppost to a helicopter, then to another, destroying each one of them with a spin dash, when he jumped to the last helicopter, he entered and knocked down the pilot, while the helicopter was falling and the soldiers where shooting at him, he took a grenade from a box and threw it at the giant truck below him, then he exited the helicopter by jumping from it. The helicopter exploded with the truck and Shadow landed.

While Shadow was panting on the ground, he saw more trucks coming. "I'm sick of you!" He screamed, the trucks stopped in front of him, then a man got off the vehicle.

"Shadow the Hedgehog, I must be honest, I'm amazed by your determination, is this how they made you?" The man took a step in front, he was old, and was wearing an elegant suit. "But also by your ability to put your friends at risk just by your anger and thirst for revenge, bring the reptile." Two men brought Vector to the old man's side, he coughed and spitted some blood.

"Leave him alone! I'm the one you want!" Shadow said.

The old man laughed. "Oh friend, if it only were that easy, give us the pen-drive, and your friend will live."

"Don't do it Sha…!" Vector shouted, then he was punched on the belly.

Shadow sighed. "Alright, here it is." He took out the pen-drive from one of his gloves.

"I'm glad you are reasonable, I thought you would do something, stupid." The man said.

Shadow walked towards him, and gave him the pen-drive. "Now, let him go."

The man turned around. "I'm so sorry." He walked away from Shadow.

"We had a deal!" Shadow yelled.

"Yeah, well…" The man suddenly stopped talking, then he fell to the ground, lifeless. Shadow ran towards the two men who were holding Vector, before they could even touch the trigger from their guns, Shadow knocked them down with a spin dash, then the trucks exploded.

"Oh thanks, I thought I was…" Vector threw up. "…Sorry, I was never so close to death, oh…" He threw up again.

"Your welcome." Shadow looked at the trucks, they were all destroyed and on fire. "What happened, who…?"

"Missed me?" Rogue landed in front of Shadow.

"Rogue?, where did you got that gun?"

"A lady has to take care of herself, specially one who likes to rob things." Rogue put her weapon on a holster.

"I've never seen you using fire weapons." Shadow crossed his arms.

"Things change, sweetheart." Rogue said.

"The explosion?" Shadow asked.

Rogue just nodded. "What is Vector doing?"

"Uhm, he freaked out." Shadow answered.

"Oh I see, it´s the first time I see him throwing up without alcohol being the cause." Rogue laughed.

Shadow just chuckled a little. "Yeah, thanks by the way."

"No problem, we have to take care of us." Rogue took the pen-drive from the ground. "So, what's the plan?"

"We will hide, and search for that maniac." Shadow walked away from her.

Rogue was confused. "What maniac?"

Shadow stopped walking. "The one who tried to kill me."

"I'll help." Rogue said.

Shadow growled. "No! It's my problem, not yours."

"I am not asking you, Shadow, we will find this person, so we can stop G.U.N. from whatever they're planning."

Shadow sighed. "Whatever."


	5. Chapter 5: Waiting and searching

Shadow and Rogue were sitting outside of a coffee shop, waiting for Vector who was making a call.

Shadow sighed. "Hurry up Vector."

"Calm down I'm sure she will answer in a moment." Vector continued waiting, looking at the phone's screen.

"Who is he calling to?" Rogue asked.

"He says he has an old friend who worked for plenty intelligence institutions, she can help us find these guys." Shadow answered.

Vector started talking suddenly. "Hello? Marisa? Hi! How are you? Fine thank you, how's the family? I'm glad to hear that…"

"Vector…" Shadow growled.

"Alright! Alright!, calm down! No, that was not for you, look, I need your help, do you still have access to the database? I…well…I'm helping a friend with a case so I was wondering…yes? Thank you so much, 8 pm.? Alright, see ya." Vector put away his phone and sat down with Shadow and Rogue.

"And?" Shadow asked.

"She is definitely going to help us, we will meet with her at her office at 8 pm." Vector said.

Rogue took a sip of her coffee. "You mentioned a database."

Vector nodded. "Yes, this Iron Trap thing, I'm sure it will appear on her database, believe me, Marisa is the best investigator I know."

Shadow stood up. "Six hours until 8, Rogue, we can check what's in the pen-drive while we wait."

Rogue sighed. "Okay Shadow but please let me finish my coffee, we got plenty of time."

"If you say so." Shadow sat down again.

"Uhm, Shadow." Vector said. "About what happened the other day…"

Shadow interrupted Vector. "It's okay Vec.."

"No! It's not!" Vector sighed. "Just listen, you can't let your anger to control you in that way, you had the information you needed, you had already broke his fingers! Why leaving him invalid?"

Shadow punched the table. "He deserved it!" He shouted.

Vector stood up. "Hey! Calm down or you will get us in trouble! It's not up to you to decide that, you are not the justice, Shadow, sometimes these things happen you know, criminals doing what they want without consequences, that hurts, it's the reality where we live, we won't be better than them if we do the same horrible things they do to catch them."

"Right." Shadow said with his gaze on the floor.

Vector sat down. "Fine, now go and check your secret mission stuff, I need a break."

"Just in time, come on Shadow." Rogue stood up and entered to a library that was next to the coffee shop, Shadow followed her.

Rogue and Shadow rented a computer of the library, then Shadow connected the pen-drive to the PC.

Rogue opened a video file that was at the beginning of the file list. "Let's see what these bad guys are doing."

The video opened, G.U.N.'s logo appeared on the window, then it showed a recording, a human-like figure trapped in a big crystal cage, with blue rays surrounding it. "What the heck is that?" Shadow said.

The figure in the video changed in a split of second. "It got taller!" Rogue said. The video started to get blurry, the now taller figure threw lightning to the crystal cage making it to explode in tiny pieces, then it threw more lightning to the camera, so the video stopped playing.

Shadow and Rogue were astonished. "Look, it says project Lightmask, what could it mean?" Shadow said.

"Okay, what else do we have on these archives, oh! Lightmask! Here it is." Rogue opened a text file and began to read it. "Lightmask, an entity capable to shift its shape to anything it wants, it creates huge amounts of electricity and can travel through it, it's extremely dangerous and is being studied to create powerful weapons in the future."

"And it disappeared." Shadow said.

"How do you…oh, right, it says the last time it was seen was in the recording we' ve just watched." Rogue closed the text file.

"If it can travel through electricity, there are a lot of possibilities to where it could be hiding in, it can still be at G.U.N.'s headquarters, or maybe anywhere on the city, even outside of the country." Shadow sighed. "And now what?"

Rogue disconnected the pen-drive from the computer. "I don't know, we might have to wait."

Shadow nodded. "If it's that dangerous, we must find it, before it hurts someone, or worse, sooner or later, it will appear."


	6. Chapter 6: A Great Suspect

It was dark already, Shadow, Vector and Rogue were in front of a big, modern building with its facade made solely of glass, surrounded by gardens and a few parking lots.

Shadow looked amazed at the size of the complex. "What is this place?"

"It used to be a facility from a private army, for innovation and technology, but the building got sold." Vector answered.

Rogue was even more astonished than Shadow. "Who bought it?"

"An insurance company." Vector said.

"I don't think they will be helpful at all." Shadow added.

They passed through the automatic door, then Vector chuckled. "Believe me, we are at the right place, looking for the right person, wait here."

Vector walked towards the desktop where the secretary was finishing a call, she was a gray bunny who was wearing a black dress. "Good afternoon madame, I'm looking for a full coverage of three sport cars, one luxurious house and the invaluable lives of my two goldfish."

"Why the heck did he say that, is he drunk?" Rogue murmured.

Shadow sighed. "I don't want to know."

The secretary nodded and typed some codes on the keyboard, then the elevator at the end of the lobby opened its doors. "Thank you." Vector said, then he looked at Shadow and Rogue and moved his head slightly pointing at the elevator.

They understood the signal. "Come on Rogue." Shadow said.

While they were in the elevator, Rogue's eyes widened. "Oh, now I get it!"

Shadow looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Get what?"

"Really?" Rogue rolled her eyes. "I knew you weren't that brilliant but…" She sighed. "Forget it, honey."

"Whatever." Shadow growled.

The elevator's doors opened after a few minutes. "Here we are, just let me do the talk, then this will be over." Vector said.

They walked through a hallway, which had water canals at the sides that had light bulbs under water, which were serving as illumination. Vector knocked the door and stood in front of a camera that was on it, then the door opened. "Nice to see you, Marisa!"

Vector shook Marisa's hand, she was a wolf dressed with a suit, wearing small glasses and heels.

"Nice to see you too, tell me, who are your friends?" Marisa asked.

"Hello, I'm…" Rogue was interrupted.

"Just kidding, I know who you are, G.U.N.'s number one targets." Marisa sat down behind her desktop.

"How do you know that?" Shadow took a step at the front.

Marisa sighed. "Well I have access to their most confidential archives and databases, I know everything."

"Alright…not creepy at all." Rogue said.

"Oh, and you are on TV." Marisa added, then she turned on a monitor that was attached to the wall, the screen showed the news channel with pictures of Rogue, Shadow and Vector.

Shadow crossed his arms. "Great."

"What the…? Why me?!" Vector exclaimed.

"You are helping fugitives, don't be that surprised." Marisa said.

Vector sighed. "Well, to what we came, we need you to help us with something, uhm, Iron Trap."

Marisa suddenly stopped typing on the keyboard and switched her gaze from the monitor to all of them. "Did I hear well?"

"That's a no?" Shadow said.

"No it's just that, I have very little information about that." Marisa continued typing.

Rogue raised an eyebrow. "I thought you knew everything."

"Everything, is, a word of many meanings." Marisa said.

Shadow chuckled. "Uhm, no, I'm sure everything means everything."

Marisa stopped typing again. "Do you want my help or not?"

"Anything you have will help, Mari." Vector said.

Marisa nodded. "Okay, first, don't you ever call me like that again, second, all I have is a list of suspects from a small division of G.U.N."

"Great, how many?" Rogue asked.

Marisa clicked the mouse. "Uhm, one."

"Are you sure?" Shadow said.

Marisa nodded. "You see, Iron Trap is more a password than the actual name of an organization, it seems someone reported hearing him say the word in a party while on the phone."

"Him?" Vector asked.

"His name is Robert Douglas, you might have heard of him." Marisa turned on the printer that was next to her chair.

"Great, now we have to interrogate a millionaire without getting caught by his security." Rogue said.

Marisa gave Vector a sheet with the suspect's data. "Here is his address, I tracked down the data from his internet provider, he is on his cottage on the outskirts of the city right now, so it wont be too difficult for you to contact him, but that is your problem anyway, I wish I could help more but…"

"It's okay, this will be enough thank you very much, uhm, how much will this cost because, you know, I can't pay you right now…" Vector took a few steps backwards.

"I was going to say that nothing, but if you want…"

"Oh no, no no no no it's fine like that, we are friends, aren't we?" Vector was already outside of the office.

Marisa sighed. "Take care Vector."

"You too!" Vector said from the hallway.

"We might have to go to." Rogue whispered to Shadow.

"Right." Shadow followed Rogue to the hallway. "Uhm, thanks!" Shadow said.

"Bye." Marisa responded, the door closed.

They were all already outside of the building, then Vector made up a plan. "Rogue, you will interrogate Robert, Shadow and I will help you enter the house without being noticed."

"I must be the one who interrogates him." Shadow added.

Vector chuckled. "With that self control? No thanks."

"I can control it! I won't make him any harm! I promise!" Shadow exclaimed.

Rogue sighed. "Shadow, I know you want to do this but…"

"This is my problem!" Shadow yelled.

"Well your problem is now ours, end of discussion." Vector said. "Tonight we will visit Mr. Douglas, and I found out the perfect way to do it."


	7. Chapter 7: Road to the Abyss

They were on Vector's old car, going through the highway, en route to Robert's cottage, when they were close enough, Vector stopped the car a few meters away from the property and took his binoculars to get a better look of the place. "Yes, is here."

"How are you so sure?" Rogue asked.

"Bodyguards, weapons, isn't it obvious?" Vector answered.

Shadow snatched the binoculars from him. "Yeah, that, and the big Douglas Corporation logo on that van."

Rogue chuckled. "Oh you are such a great detective."

"Let's just shut up and do this." Vector opened the door and exited from the car.

Shadow got out from the car first, then he took Rogue's hand to help her get out. Rogue was a little surprised. "Thank you, so you are still a gentleman?"

"Your welcome." Shadow said, then he tried to run towards the cottage but Vector stopped him.

"Where do you think you are going?" Vector said while holding Shadow's arm.

Shadow shook his arm so Vector let him go. "To get answers." Shadow said.

Vector sighed. "That's Rogue's Job! You will get rid of the security alarms and I will knock down the guards, and of course Rogue, you will need to put on this mask, remember we are the public enemy right now." Vector gave Rogue a black mask.

Rogue took the mask with disapproval. "This has no style at all Vector, I bet fashion is not your area."

Vector growled. "Firstly, I'm a detective not a fashion designer, secondly, don't you see this hat? It's a classic!"

"Yeah, another word for outdated." Rogue laughed a little.

"Guys…" Shadow was getting upset.

Vector nodded. "Alright, Shadow, find all of the security alarms and cameras that could be on this area and disable them."

"Don't you mean…destroy them?" Shadow asked.

"No it's not the same I…Just, do what works for you." Vector said. "Rogue, when me and Shadow get finished, you will enter through the window and what the heck!" Vector realized that Shadow was gone and the window was open. "He ignored the plan, didn't care about the cameras nor the guards and went after Robert by himself isn't it?"

"Yup." Rogue said.

"So, you will deal with the cameras?" Vector asked.

"Let me deal with the guards, I don't believe you can fight them." Rogue flew away.

Vector sighed. "Yes, neither do I." He spoke to himself.

Shadow was on the living room, there were a few pieces of art hanging from the wooden walls, a big TV was on the sports channel, Shadow could see from behind what for him seemed like the head of a cougar who was sitting on the couch, drinking some wine. "Robert." Shadow said.

The cougar, who was wearing a tracksuit and a pair of tennis, put his drinking glass on the table that was in front of the couch, then he stood up and turned around to look at Shadow. "It seems that my employees aren't that effective after all." Robert said.

"Are you mad because your shooter didn't kill me?!" Shadow yelled.

Robert walked towards a drawer that was next to the TV. "I was talking about the guards, what do you mean?" He opened the drawer and took a bag of chips, then he began to ate them. "These are my favorites."

"Iron Trap!" Shadow yelled again.

Robert kept walking around the room while eating. "Oh that! Yeah, you are right, that is not good I guess."

"So, do you admit it?" Shadow asked.

"Admit what?" Robert put some sauce on his chips.

"That you are are an intermediary! You hire shooters for others, that is Iron Trap!" Shadow said.

"Yes Shadow, I admit it, I'm the responsible." Robert returned to his couch and sat down.

"You have just confessed!" Shadow pointed at him from behind.

"Do you have microphones?" Robert asked, Shadow remained silent.

Robert sighed. "That's what I thought, okay, I will put it like this, my program is going to start in a couple of minutes, I'm on my vacation and my client must not be happy with me right now, he is a difficult person to deal with."

"What do you want?" Shadow said.

"There is a high possibility that he wants me dead for my non-fulfillment, and you want to catch him, let's help each other." Robert answered.

Shadow sighed and nodded. "His name?"

"You will forget about all of this, and I will forget I even saw you, do you understand?" Robert asked.

Shadow hesitated for a few seconds before answering. "Right."

"Abyss." Robert turned up the TV volume."

Shadow got confused. "That's not a name."

"I know it is a person, I got no more info, now go away before I call the police."

Rogue met with Vector next to a truck. "All clear."

Vector nodded. "The system is disabled, now we must hope Shadow does not screw this up."

Rogue waited a few moments before asking something to Vector. "So...how are they?"

"Who?" Vector asked.

"Espio and, uhm, the bee." Rogue said. Vector ignored her.

"Whats wrong?" Rogue asked.

Vector sighed. "They are gone."

Rogue was intrigued. "Do you mean…?"

"Dead Rogue! They are dead! Are you happy now?!" Vector kicked the truck.

Rogue was shocked, then she walked towards Vector slowly and took his hand. "Dont worry, Its okay." She released his hand and looked at the sky.

After about a minute, Vector began to talk. "We were investigating a case, I ordered them to go undercover in a band of thieves, I knew it was dangerous but, the money, it was enough for all of us to retire once and for all, but I was so scared that I didnt go instead of them, with the dumb excuse that I was going to work on other stuff, one day, they got caught, and they were murdered."

"Its not your fault." Rogue said.

Vector looked away. "No, it is, Rogue, and I must live with it."

Rogue saw Shadow trying to jump from the window. "There he is." Rogue began to walk towards the cottage. "And no Vector, its not your fault, believe me."

Shadow jumped out from the window, then he landed in front of Vector and Rogue, both with their arms crossed. "Uhm, hi guys." Shadow said.

"This is not a game, honey." Rogue said.

Vector pushed Shadow. "Why didn't you just follow my orders, I know about these things, you don't! You put us on great risk, it was no easy task to…"

"I got a name!" Shadow interrupted Vector.

"You…!" Vector tried to calm down. "So?"

"Abyss." Shadow said.

Vector sighed with disappointment. "Shadow, Abyss is not an actual…"

"Oh no…" Rogue said suddenly.

"What is it?" Shadow asked.

"Guys, you won't like to hear this." Rogue said worriedly.


	8. Chapter 8: The Answer

They got on the car, then Vector began to drive towards the city. "A cult leader?" Vector asked. "Why is that so dangerous?"

"Believe me, Abyss is a very dangerous man, I robbed him one time and I could barely get outside of his lair, and I won't return there." Rogue answered.

"Don't worry, I will be the one who deals with him." Shadow said.

Rogue looked at Shadow. "Honey, just let it go, you don't know who you are dealing with."

Shadow sighed. "Well, I will know when I find him, where is his lair."

"Black Island." Rogue said.

Shadow thought for a moment before speaking. "The one with the small tower?"

Rogue nodded. "Look, I know we can't do anything to stop you, so I'm just begging you to be careful, we will cover you."

"And why is he so dangerous?" Vector asked.

"How do I explain? Uhm…he is like, powerful." Rogue answered.

"Like, rich?" Shadow said.

"No, I mean, he has guards and robots securing the tower, but he has special abilities." Rogue opened the car's window. "Don't get too close to him, that is my advice."

"But, what does he do?" Shadow asked.

"I can't explain it, he just puts his hands over his head and things start to get weird." Rogue said.

"Now that's a challenge." Vector put on his hat. "We will get there, do you have a plan?."

"Just cover me, I know exactly what to do." Shadow said.

They arrived at one corner of the city that was close to Black Island, which was a small piece of terrain with a tower in the middle. Everyone exited from the car, and walked towards the fence that faced towards the ocean. "There are no boats." Vector said.

"I need no boat." Shadow ran a few meters away from the fence to take impulse, his gaze was focused on the tower. He ran the fastest he could and jumped the fence, then he landed safely on the shore of the small island.

The motion sensors activated the alarms, a lot of guards came from nowhere, before they could even approach Shadow, he knocked down each one of them using a spin dash, in a matter of seconds all of the guards were lying unconscious on the ground, then Shadow entered the tower, the alarm was still sounding.

"Rogue, fly and cover him from above, I'll stay here watching over." Vector said.

Rogue nodded and flew towards the island.

Shadow was inside of the tower, it was dark, with just some old lamps hanging on the walls, there were weird symbols everywhere, on the floor, on every wall, Shadow began to feel worried, then afraid, he felt a kind of presence, hurting him on the inside, like if he was ill. "What is this place?" Shadow thought.

Shadow!" A voice echoed on the tower. "You are still with us!"

"Show yourself!" Shadow yelled, when he arrived to the center of the building, where the moonlight came from a skylight that was on the high ceiling.

"I'm over here." The voice sounded closer to Shadow.

Shadow turned around immediately, he freaked out a little when he saw a man with a green robe standing in front of him, his cap was covering his face. "Abyss."

"This is the last time I trust a criminal millionaire." Abyss said.

"Indeed…" Shadow coughed. "It's your end."

"You don't look well." Abyss threw Shadow to a column, only by moving his hand, then Shadow fell to the ground. "I'll have to kill you myself, we are sick of your actions, we didn't have any problem with you, but you messed with G.U.N."

Shadow could barely stand up. "Are you with them?"

Abyss laughed. "They work for us, you mess with them, you mess with us."

Shadow began to cough repeatedly. "You…what do you mean?"

"The world is in good hands, Shadow, The Pillar, is the base, without us, the entire civilization would perish, we won't let you and anyone to destroy order." Abyss put his hands on his head.

Shadow started to feel great pain, he kneeled down then he layed on the ground.

"Now I'm stronger, you won't escape, this is your end, I am Abyss, member of The Pillar and its treasurer, my duty is to end all of the suffering from the future generations, I condemn you for treason." Abyss said before the tower started to shake, rocks and dust were falling from everywhere.

Shadow felt even more pain, he tried to stand up and ran towards a wall then he kicked it with a spin dash. Shadow fell again to the ground. "Why treason?"

"For stealing the documents from G.U.N., The Pillar considers you a traitor, to your community, to your planet." Abyss said while still hurting Shadow and making the tower to shake.

Shadow stood up again, and tried to do another spin dash, but Abyss immobilized him.

Vector was on the island, he was looking for the security systems. Rogue saw him from above. "What are you doing!" She yelled. "I thought you would wait on the car."

"I have an idea, how's Shadow?" Vector asked.

"Not good." Rogue said.

"Don't worry, just wait for the signal!" Vector said, then he went into the tower.

"Wait! What signal…" Rogue sighed.

Vector was looking at all of the symbols on the walls, then he found the alarm systems, which were off. "Here you are." Vector uncovered the system by taking off it's cover, so he could see the wires. "Let's see what happens if I cut…this one." Vector cut a red wire, then a strong noise began to came from the speakers of the tower, Vector had to cover his ears.

Abyss began to scream, it seemed that the noise was hurting him, Shadow then managed to stand up and started to feel better, so he kicked Abyss with a spin dash and Abyss fell to the ground, then Rogue arrived and began to kick him and punch him, then aimed at him with her gun.

"Say goodbye monster." Rogue said.

"It's not the way!" Shadow yelled.

Rogue quit her finger from the trigger. "What?"

Shadow sighed. "Let him live, killing him won't solve anything."

Rogue smiled at him, then she put away her gun. "You are right honey."

"I'm glad you said that." Vector said when he met with them.

"And, what now?" Shadow asked. "What are we going to do with him?"

Vector took out his phone. "It happens that I know someone who knows someone who manages a private prison for people like him."

"The Marble?" Rogue asked.

"That's right." Vector said, then he answered the phone. "Marisa! Yes I need something more…" Vector walked away from them to talk on his phone.

"Are you okay?" Rogue walked towards Shadow.

Shadow chuckled. "Yeah, I'm fine, but the rest of the world is in danger."

Rogue was confused. "What did he tell you?"

"There is a new, hidden menace that we need to take down." Shadow answered. "Worse than Robotnik."

"Did he give you a name?" Rogue asked.

Shadow nodded. "The Pillar."

Rogue took Shadow's hand. "Don't worry, we will be with you, and we will find these people."

Shadow smiled at her, then he just nodded.

A/N: Thank you very much for reading, I hope you liked this story, stay tuned!

-Grant


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